1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of silencing neuronal electrical activity with a particular K+ channel subunit. More specifically, the directed expression of a specific K+ channel subunit may be used to modulate gene transcription and translation in neural cells, and transgenic animals expressing the specific open rectified K+ channel subunit, dORK.
2. Statement of Related Art
Neurons and other excitable cells process information and control behavior via both short-term and long-term changes in the permeability of the cell membrane to various ions, and consequent changes in the electrical potential across the membrane. Various commercially and medically important pharmaceuticals act by modifying the electrical properties of excitable cells. For example, pharmacological blockers of voltage-gated calcium channels are widely used to reduce the excitability of the smooth muscle fibers that control dilation of arteries and arterioles, and thereby ameliorate hypertension and angina. Another approach to modifying cellular electrical excitability is the ectopic expression of ion channels themselves. For example, ectopic expression of potassium channels can both hyperpolarize the cell membrane and decrease its input resistance, thereby reducing cellular electrical excitability and preventing action potential generation.
Potassium channels cloned from insects have corresponding orthologs in mammalian species. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,026, which describes the isolation and characterization of DNA fragments encoding potassium channel genes from Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, and their expression in yeast, a model system in which to study potassium transport mechanics.